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Small States in Great Power Politics Small States in Great Power Politics Understanding the “Buffer Effect” Ksenia Efremova This paper deals with the concept of “small states” as opposed to “great powers”. Both concepts are considered to be ideal types with peculiar behaviour characteristics. It is argued that in certain circumstances (i.e. within a “buffer system”) small states may affect the behaviour of great powers in a way that mitigates the latter’s rivalry. It appears that a buffer state jammed between two rivals is not a pawn but a pivot in great power games, which may choose from a range of strategies (balancing, bandwagoning, leaning to a third power, staying neutral, or hedging risks) to sustain its survival as an independent unit. By applying the game theory approach to analyse great power relation- ships, the paper demonstrates how a “win-lose” game transforms into a “win-win” game, and what is the role of small buffer states in this transformation. Touching upon the problem of unequal powers’ in- teractions, this piece of research contributes to the extant literature on asymmetry in international relations mainly in a theoretical way, drawing attention to a virtually forgotten sphere of international re- lations — buffer systems — mostly overlooked by the current IR dis- course. Keywords: small states, great powers, buffer system, power asymmetry, interstate relations. Ksenia Efremova. Small States in Great Power Politics. Understanding the “Buffer Effect”. Central European Journal of International and Security Studies 13, no. 1: 100–121. © 2019 CEJISS. Article is distributed under Open Access licence: Attribution - NonCommercial 3.0 Unported (cc by-nc 3.0). Unequal power distribution among sovereign states that determines their difference in power projection capabilities is a fundamental fea- ture of international relations. There is a widespread assumption that the global international system and its regional subsystems are formed primarily by interactions among greater states, which pursue their na- Ksenia Efremova tional interests, while smaller states have to accept the resulting bal- ance of power and imposed rules of the game. Yet the reality is count- er-intuitive: power asymmetry does not necessarily lead to absolute subjection of the weaker side to the stronger one. As Womack explains, Asymmetric relationships are by definition unequal, but they are far from constituting a simple pecking order of domina- tion. An asymmetric relationship is one in which the smaller side is significantly more exposed to interactions than the larger side because of the disparity of capabilities, and yet the larger is not able to dictate unilaterally the terms of the relationship. 1 For the last fifty years the IR theory was enriched by plenty of schol- arship, which demonstrated the ability of smaller states to resist great powers pressure. While being inspired by classic works on small states,2 this article aims to integrate their findings with some recent research on power asymmetry.3 It discusses specific conditions, under which smaller states may influence the politics of greater powers. This article contributes to abundant literature on this topic in two ways: first, by conducting of a broad survey on (predominantly Western) small state theorising; and second, by applying the “prisoner’s dilemma” model to the study of small buffer states behaviour. The game theory approach provides a useful tool for better understanding of asymmetric interac- tions (in particular, it explains the shift from “win-lose” to “win-win” game strategies of the great powers), thus adding more value to this work. The article addresses several research questions: What is a small state? How is it fitted into the buffer system? What opportunities the latter provides for a small state to get “oversized”, i.e. to exert some influence on greater powers, which otherwise it could not exert? The narrative proceeds as follows: first, the notions of “small states” and “great powers” are clarified; second, their interactions within the “buf- fer system” and the “buffer complex” are analysed. In conclusion, some practical implementations and theoretical implications of the analytic model presented here are discussed. 101 Small states and great powers The phenomenon of national power stands at the core of academic discourse in International Relations and some adjacent disciplines (e.g. Geopolitics, International Security). However, there is hardly any con- CEJISS sensus on terminology of unequal powers, which is “imprecise and sub- 1/2019 ject to judgements.”4 In dozen of works analysed in this article, mighty states were (sometimes interchangeably) denoted as: “powers”, “major powers”, “great powers”, “big powers”, “strong powers”, “powerful states”, “large states”. Less mighty states were defined as: “minor powers”, “small powers”, “small nations”, “small countries”, “small states”, “weak states”, “weak powers” and suchlike. As Long rightfully indicates, all these defi- nitions are conventional by their nature, since the notion of national power is conventional too.5 Starting from two different perspectives on national power, Mosser distinguishes between two types of definitions: absolute and relative. Absolute definitions consider national power a nation’s essential attri- bute. Power-as-attribute is a quantitative feature that may be summed up to certain numbers reflecting the nation’s geographical, demo- graphic, military, political, social, economic, cultural, and other char- acteristics.6 Absolute definitions imply quantitative criteria (such as size of territory, population, or national income) to separate more and less mighty nations. The easiest way to do so is to draw a line where “small states” become big enough to qualify for a higher status: for in- stance, the Commonwealth adopted the criterion of population less than 1.5 million for a country to be considered a “small state”.7 Though power-as-attribute approaches may have their logic, yet they seem to produce inappropriate analytical tools. As Baehr noted, Most authors who want to use the concept of “small states” for purposes of analysis struggle at length with the problem of definition. First of all, there is the problem of which criteria are to be adopted… Once the criteria are set out, the problem remains where to draw the line among “small” and “large”, or possibly “small”, “middle”, and “very large”. Often the preferred solution may be clear and unambiguous, but at the same time arbitrary and intellectually difficult to defend; more sophisti- cated definitions, on the other hand, are often more ambigu- ous and difficult to apply to concrete cases.8 Thus we see that the main obstacle to a wider use of absolute defi- nitions is the absence of clear quantitative criteria, which mark the 102 transition of a state from the category of “objects” to “subjects” of in- ternational politics. As Bjøl fairly pointed out, It is undoubtedly possible to establish a sort of international stratification by quantitative criteria: GNP, area, population, armed forces, etc. It is, however, highly questionable how use- Small States in ful this is… Since international politics consists by definition Great Power of interactions within social systems, what is of analytical Politics significance, are relationships between various components, which may be equals and which may be unequals. In the latter cases it may be reasonable to speak of small state [and great power] roles. 9 The latter point clearly demonstrates the relative nature of nation- al power. Contrary to the power-as-attribute approach, which implies that national power is a constant that can be measured separately for every nation, power-as-relation definitions consider national power a variable, which takes greater or lesser values depending on what na- tions are being compared to each other. Therefore, “small states” and “great powers” are not substantial entities per se, but labels given to na- tions, which reflect different international roles assigned to the latter according to their respective power levels. There are three types of relative definitions. Definitions of the first type underline qualitative power differences between nations. Thus, Vandenbosch defines the “small state” as “a state which is unable to contend in war with the great powers on anything like equal terms.” 10 The diplomatic weakness of “small states”, their insignificant role in world politics make them “stakes” rather than “players” in great power games. They have to “take”, rather than “make”, rules and norms of global governance.11 What is peculiar about “small states” is their in- ability to protect themselves against aggressors; they have to rely on other states or international organizations to sustain their sovereign- ty.12 In other words, “the small states are consumers rather than pro- ducers of security.”13 Similarly, Vital suggests that “a small state is more vulnerable to pressure, more likely to give way under stress, more limited in respect of the political options open to it, and subject to a tighter connection between domestic and external affairs [than a great power].” He draws the line between “small states” and “great powers” at a government’s (in)ability “to induce other states—or governments—to follow lines of conduct or policy which they might otherwise not pursue.”14 103 Another relational understanding of national power is presented by Rothstein. Acknowledging that “a definition of small powers based on tangible ‘elements of power’ is unsatisfactory,” he offers a qualitative
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